Page 20 of Braden

Twilka clapped her hands. “Perfect! I thought I was the only one who remembered the poem. I sew a tiny blue ribbon into the hem of every wedding dress so that’s covered.”

“And I borrowed this tiara,” Tamarind said, touching the glittering diadem with a fingertip.

“The dress is new,” Migs said, getting in the spirit of the thing. “So are the shoes.”

Tam held out her hand for the pin. “This is perfect, Elodie, thank you.” With help from Twilka she pinned it inside the hem next to the blue ribbon.

“Time for the holo shoot,” Migs announced, ruthlessly cutting into the sweet moment. The schedule was everything with her. “All right, girls, let’s get ourselves organized in the dressing room for a few candid shots with the bride.”

As they exited the room, Twilka stopped beside Elodie and murmured, “See, what did I tell you? You’re one of the few people here for the right reasons. Don’t ever change.”

* * *

Braden had forgotten how much he hated wearing his dress uniform. Sitting on the bride’s side of the aisle, he did his best to maintain an expressionless face and not show his irritation. He knew he was receiving more than his share of sideways glances. But a few hours of discomfort feeling like an actor in a play was a small price to pay for having met and fallen in love with Elodie.

He clocked the D’nvannae Brother as soon as the man walked in, accompanied by a pixie of a woman. There had been a few occasions in the past where Braden had encountered D’nvannae in the course of a mission and he had vast respect for their capabilities, balanced by wariness over the whims of their capricious goddess. The Brothers answered only to her. The couple stopped at his row.

“May we sit here?” the woman asked.

“Of course.” He made room for the two of them to pass into the chairs beside him.

“I’m Twilka and this is my husband Khevan,” the lady said as soon as they were seated, apparently needing only one name to identify herself. “You’re a friend of the bride?”

Braden shook hands with Khevan. “I’m the plus one for a bridesmaid actually.”

“Which girl? I dressed them all—I’m the designer,” she said brightly.

“Elodie.”

Twilka beamed at him. “She’s a lovely person, my favorite even if I shouldn’t have favorites. So genuine in her friendship for the bride. You’re a lucky man.”

“No argument from me.” Braden grinned. “I wondered what a D’nvannae was doing at a celebrity wedding.”

“Ex-D’nvannae,” Khevan corrected. “I work in interstellar security now with my partner and our company. But of course I’d accompany my wife to this event.”

He didn’t seem to be inviting further comment and the music was beginning anyway so Braden rose with the other guests and turned to the back of the garden venue. The flower girls skipped down the aisle, disregarding every single thing Migs had tried to instill into them during the endless rehearsal. The exuberant children scattered petals far and wide and Braden brushed a few off his sleeve with a grin as they passed him. The ringbearer was extremely solemn and marched in perfect time with the music.

Now the bridesmaids began their part of the procession. Chet was already at the front with Renald, since he was the best man, so his girlfriend the maid of honor walked with another man who Braden more or less recognized as an interstellar sports commentator and retired pro tisba player. Elodie was in the middle of the procession and she seemed nervous but beamed at Braden as she passed. He blew her a kiss.

The music changed and there was a hush as the bride came down the aisle on her father’s arm. Tamarind was a vision today and all her attention was on Renald, waiting at the altar with a huge smile on his face.

The ceremony was the Sectors standard, with short remarks from the officiant—Geoff Delain the manager of Resort Planet—an exchange of vows, the rings and the kiss, which went on forever and had the rowdier members of the audience hooting and hollering by the time it ended. Renald and Tam came back up the aisle holding hands, practically dancing, happiness writ large on their faces. Braden had a flash of jealousy—he wanted the same thing for himself and Elodie.

Twilka heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank the Lords of Space it all went off without a hitch. Of course Migs runs a tight ship and plans for every contingency.” She turned to Braden and held out her hand. “It was a pleasure to meet you and please give my best wishes to Elodie.”

“You’re not staying for the reception?” he asked as people around them moved out of the sea of chairs and headed outside for the open tents set up for the banquet and dancing.

“Other priorities,” she said cheerfully. “Places to be. Have fun on my behalf.”

And they were gone.

Braden followed the crowd to the next location on the wedding train as he now termed it. He found his place at a table near the head table and noshed on appetizers as he waited for Elodie and the other bridesmaids to be done with yet more holo taking. A small group of musicians was playing classics drawn from across the Sectors and all the guests seemed mellow. He snagged two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter, set one at Elodie’s place and sipped the other.

When the bridal party did appear, it was showtime. The bridesmaids and flower girls made an entrance, followed by Renald and Tam, to much applause. The newlyweds broke into a dance alone, crossing the floor in sweeping romantic turns and then Renald kissed Tam’s hand and moved away as the bridesmaids took their assigned spots in two rows behind the bride for the dance they’d practiced so assiduously. Braden took a deep breath and sent a quick prayer to the Lords of Space to support Elodie through the next two minutes. She looked determined, not nervous. She’d had the special dance lesson with the expert the resort provided and it went well. The professional choreographer had shown her how to do a few moves that were confusing her and simplified others so Elodie could blend in.

The music changed into a pounding beat and the dance began. To his relief, Elodie kept time with the others perfectly, except for one tiny slipup on a reverse move, and he considered her version of the routine fine. He saw two of the other girls mess up and recover and filed the information away in case Elodie needed reinforcement about her own performance versus the others. As the routine moved toward its ending, Braden rose from his chair and waited for his cue to sweep in and take Elodie through the steps of the couples’ dance. The other men who were the plus ones did the same.

This has to be the strangest thing I’ve ever done for a girl, Braden thought. But she’s worth it. He had more nerves about getting this right than he had bailing out of a shuttle in the upper atmosphere of a nameless planet and relying on an antigrav pad to get him safely to the alien jungle full of hostiles below. He wanted to get this right for Elodie’s sake. The training and muscle memory from all those dance lessons his mother had foisted on her children rose to the surface and he stepped out on cue to capture Elodie’s hand and take them into the next part of the dance.